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#Post#: 10991--------------------------------------------------
How many young birds are necessary?
DIR By: oldfart
Date: April 24, 2012, 7:37 am
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1. How many young birds do you think are necessary to improve a
strain and move a loft forward each year?
2. How many pair of breeders do you use to raise these young?
3. Do you ever breed from young birds?
Take care my friends
Thom
#Post#: 10992--------------------------------------------------
Re: How many young birds are necessary?
DIR By: scott70
Date: April 24, 2012, 9:26 am
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Hi Mr Thom I am sure you know way more then I do on this one but
this is how I like to do it.
If you are only breeding from one family and not using any
fosters I like to keep 10 to 12 pairs of breeders and get four
rounds out of them that will give you 8 youngsters per pair so
at the end of the year you will have a good Idea what that pair
will give you.
Now as far as young birds go if I can I like to breed off birds
that have been fling for two years or more but as the bops are
getting so bad some times you cant
#Post#: 10993--------------------------------------------------
Re: How many young birds are necessary?
DIR By: raul carreiro
Date: April 24, 2012, 4:37 pm
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Hi Thom, Interesting questions you ask here. Im sure you will
get a million answers on these questions! I will give my
thoughts on this.
1. How many young birds do you think are necessary to improve a
strain and move a loft forward each year?
Personally I think it only takes one young bird to improve a
strain and move a loft forward! Provided however that this bird
is better than its parents and other birds within the strain!
This bird should have preverably been tested in the air, and
have demonstrated to have better performance than any other bird
in the loft! Its phenotype and performance, is obvious , but one
can only guess if this bird will pass on its assets to future
generations! The trick is how many of us know how to identify
a potent hen or cock? I have heard that Pensom could do it, but
thats a whole other story LOL! In the show bird world the
evidence is what you see in the birds bred from such mating's
shows in the young birds phenotype! We aren't breeding show
birds, so the task is harder! Of course there are many other
factors that I have not mentioned here! Im feeling a little
tired and dont wish to type any more than I should on the topic
LOL!
2. How many pair of breeders do you use to raise these young?
How many birds does an individual want to raise? Are you a
quality or quantity breeder? Not all of the birds bred from from
these birds will Keepers! Does one breed 100 young birds to then
cull 80? Of about 30 birds that I bred last year Im only keeping
3 for potential breeding! Why? Because these 3 birds were
exceptional! Not that the others were mediocre, but that the 3
stood above the rest in performance,feather and body type, and
I'm breeding for what I like, not what anyone else likes LOL!
3. Do you ever breed from young birds?
I have bred from young birds! Even proven breeders don't produce
stars in every clutch! One will only know by breeding!
#Post#: 10994--------------------------------------------------
Re: How many young birds are necessary?
DIR By: wishiwon2
Date: April 24, 2012, 10:43 pm
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--- Quote from: oldfart link ---
>
> 1. How many young birds do you think are necessary to improve
a strain and move a loft forward each year?
--- End Quote ---
I expect each pair to reproduce themselves or better every year.
My expection has yet to be met. I occasionally have pairs that
produce more than one offspring in a year that are equal to or
superior to themselves, but more often the offspring are lessor.
I typically fly out about 100 young birds annually. Of these I
get about 30-40% that I consider good enough to fly in and make
up a competative kit. Of the 100 young, there are typically 5-8
that I am interested in breeding from. Whether they are an
improvement in my loft takes years to determine. I cant
accurately answer that question yet. I do think someone needs to
flyout 70-100 young a yr to field top kits consistently.
--- Quote from: oldfart link ---
>
> 2. How many pair of breeders do you use to raise these young?
--- End Quote ---
I breed from 12-16 pairs. I pick 1 or 2 pair that I focus on
for that season and foster eggs off them. I like to get 8-10
young per pair as minimum to make a reliable assesment of their
ability to produce well.
--- Quote from: oldfart link ---
>
> 3. Do you ever breed from young birds?
--- End Quote ---
Each yr I will pull in a yearling age cock and hen and breed
from them (not paired together). I put them with a mate that is
a known producer so I can have some idea of their productivity.
I always re-fly these yearlings through the next fall and
winter. If their young show promise, I may breed from them
again. I expect my stock birds to show me something good in
their first season as a breeder. I place more value in stock
that can breed and re-fly again. Some of mine have been from the
stock pen to the kit and back several times.
#Post#: 10995--------------------------------------------------
Re: How many young birds are necessary?
DIR By: oldfart
Date: April 25, 2012, 2:39 pm
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1. How many young birds: I am sure it will depend on family and
at what stage of development your loft is currently in. Once a
loft is established the number of breeders and good to better
kit birds should increase diminishing the available positions
each year. As the loft grows fewer and fewer birds will be
necessary to maintain the status and the search for the best
will commence.
2. My loft is bred from a scheme I devised and is slightly
different in its requirements. I use twelve pair of birds each
year. Four pair I consider my breeders and all of their eggs are
fostered when possible to the other remaining pairs. A second
four are considered foster/breeders who’s primary function is to
foster for the first four pair of breeders whenever egg timing
allows but also are of breeding quality although second choice
and sometimes raise their own. The last four are fosters only
and never allowed to raise their own young.
3. I say I devised my breeding program because I always breed
the best young back to its parent every year. Father/daughter,
Mother/son with two pair of each.
In this fashion:
1. cock/hen
2. best young ( hen )
3. last years cock/this years hen
4. best young (cock)
5. last years hen/this years cock
6. and so on……. the sex of the best young bird depicts which is
used, last years mother or father. This is my way, it works for
me BUT I am not trying to encourage anyone to try it! I have
worked most of the obvious faults out and now I am working on
condensing the quality’s I want in my strain.
Hey All, thanks for the input! I hope to hear more on the
subject.
Take care my friends
Thom
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